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Saturday, March 17, 2007

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

My grandmother was Mary Kelly, her grandparents having immigrated in the mid 1800's. So you would think that I grew up with a strong sense of my Irish ancestry. Maybe even a brief mention that we were Irish at this time of year. As a child I had no idea. Family history was never discussed as far as I can recall.

I've always known that my mother's maiden name might be Irish. Some sources say the that that immigrant ancestor came from Scotland. It was always pointed out that they came so long ago that we were Americans, period. (Except for the above mentioned Mary Kelly who was always a Canadian citizen!) Until I started researching I never knew that mom's grandmother was Rose Graham, described in a brief family history written by a cousin as "dirty shanty Irish." I've learned from census records that Rose was born in Michigan and her father in Indiana so I've always wondered at this reference. I have much to learn about my Irish roots but today I'll just fix myself and Irish Coffee and celebrate the fact that I'm Irish.

4 comments:

I was in a similar situation. I didn't know I had any Irish blood until a few years ago when I begin working on my maternal grandmother's family. It was then I found out that both of my grandmother's paternal grandparents immigrated from Ireland in the early 1830s. When I told my kids...both 9 at the time, they were excited that they can really celebrate St Patrick's Day...I think it's kind of neat too.

What an interesting post . Hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day and thanks for dropping by my blog. May l add you to my links list Apple? I have been doing my family genealogy for a few years now- used the LDS site and it was great. Is that what you meant by the temple records?Bests for now :)l will be back.